Serendipity
4 Stars

Ava Martinez is having a run of bad luck. Not only is she the niece of a ruthless mafia boss, but her mother has disappeared and her father is awaiting trial for murder. Things only get worse when she discovers the body of an unconscious man in the trunk of a car and knows for certain that if she doesn’t take action, he will be killed by her uncle’s goons. As fate would have it, the unknown man is Assistant District Attorney, Jordan Wellington, and his path continues to cross with Ava’s time and again as the two find themselves in the center of a dangerous circle of lies, deceit and murder.

Although this book is in dire need of some serious editing, the writing is wonderful with excellent characterization, witty dialogue and a good balance between the romance and the suspense.

Ava is an admirable heroine: intelligent, resilient and courageous. Given her family situation, her decision to rescue Jordan highlights her inner strength and integrity. Jordan is almost too perfect - charming and witty, loyal and persistent - it is rare to see a hero who is so open and honest about his feelings. Ava and Jordan have incredible chemistry and the development of their relationship is one of the highlights of the book.

My one small nitpick is the keeping secrets trope, which has never appealed to me as I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Thankfully, this issue is resolved quite efficiently and it does not detract from Jordan and Ava’s romance.

The suspense plot is comprised of two threads - the danger posed by Ava’s uncle and the serial killer targeting young women. While both develop at a solid pace throughout the book and have their moments of thrills and chills, they do tend to stutter toward the end with somewhat lackluster resolutions.

All in all, this is an entertaining story and a lovely romance with interesting secondary characters that make me want to read the next one very soon. ( )

Good entertaining read, and aptly named.
I think that it has good and well balanced mix of romance, humour and thrill; though, I enjoyed the romance and especially humour more than thrill (both the mobster and the maniac were a bit unbelievable, in my opinion).
Well-written and nicely paced, the book grabs your attention from the very beginning and is easy to finish in one sitting (I surely would if I had time). ( )

I cannot believe this is a debut novel!
I thought the premise was something new, but it didn't end up being what I thought it would be. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm saying that I can't believe that this is a debut because the way it was written was wonderful, with a lot of skill, the pace was perfect, everything rounded up nicely in the end, the two main characters are anything but boring, and there is an array of supporting characters that I was dying to know more about, too.
I loved the opening! It drags you in and you just know you're in for one hell of a ride with these two.

Jordan is a great hero. I loved his whole family, and I loved that he wasn't a typical romance hero. He wasn't set out on never committing, he wasn't a serial womanizer, he was just a nice guy that hadn't found "the one" yet.
And "the one" turned out to be Ava, the heroine. I loved her so much, she is a strong female character, a successful, independent woman that can take care of herself just fine.
Yes, the romance aspect was my usual "too fast". What was good is that the whole kidnapping/saving Jordan thing didn't present that big of an obstacle as it could have. Kudos to author for having characters *gasp* TALK IT OUT! YES!

The book is a real page turner, everything happens at perfect pace and has you wondering what will happen next - the suspense is great. The switching of POV between characters was spot on, just as I was wondering what the other character was thinking, I was being informed of it. Great timing.

The book has a sequel featuring one of the supporting characters from this book, Clay, that I wondered about. I read the sneak peek at the end of this book and it seems to be equally as thrilling and I can't wait to read it. Lisa Clark O'Neill definitely won me over with her writing style.

edit: Yay, the cover and blurb are up :). ( )

The cover of the car trunk being opened peeked my interest, but Serendipity was one of those books that when I read the overview I KNEW I was going to love it.

Serendipity is the first book of a new series by newcomer Lisa Clark O'Neill. I'm not sure what there is to not love about this book. You have humor, mistaken identity, romance, kidnapping, murder, hot guys, and a serial killer killing women who seem to have no connection to each other.

The story takes place in Savannah, Georgia. It starts out with Ava attempting to get an unconscious man who's six and a half feet tall out of a trunk of a car by herself. Ava is only five feet three inches tall. Just imagine that scene. As it happens, Ava's Uncle Carlos is attempting to help out Ava's father who is currently sitting in jail for murder and racketeering charges. Uncle Carlos' thought is that he will just kill the prosecutor and make things easier for his brother. Unfortunately, the bad guys get the wrong guy. It just so happens Ava is at the club where she overhears Carlos' men discussing what has transpired. Not wanting someone to get killed, Ava attempts and succeeds in rescuing Jordan Wellington, who happens to be an Assistant District Attorney.

After a successful rescue and roll-by drop off at a hospital, Ava just wants to forget about what has happened. But just because you want something doesn't always mean that you're going to get it. It turns out her Uncle knows she helped the guy escape and he sends his men to follow her around, as a reminder that she needs to keep her mouth shout. Just when things are attempting to return to normal, the man Ava is trying to forget walks into her veterinary clinic. The kicker is Jordan has no memory of Ava or the events that transpired.

Jordan is a kind-hearted, intelligent, sexy, funny guy who wants to go out with Ava immediately. She figures out a way to get him to back off, so she thinks. Through a course of events, she ends up on a blind date with the guy. Finally, she ends up seeing him, knowing that at some point she's going to have to tell him about herself and what she knows about what happened to him.

While attempting to make a love connection with Ava, Jordan is assigned to prosecute in the serial murder case. Wanting to make sure they have the right guy, Jordan enlists the help of longtime family friend and FBI profiler Clay Copeland (Clay's story is told in Book 2, Forbidden). Suddenly what appears to be a slam dunk case is anything but. More questions arise than are answered.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "Seems to me that if something isn't touching you in this life-good, bad, what have you-you must not be living right."

Serendipity is a wonderful book which is full of passion. It will have you laughing and longing for a great family like the Wellington's. There is enough suspense to keep you guessing. I love that I've found a new author and a new series to read.

Source: Author
Reviewed for Read Your Writes Book Reviews blog ( )